Thailand aims to enter top 5 global halal exporters by 2020

Thailand has released details of a five-year plan that will see it become one of the world’s top five exporters of halal products by 2020.

The country currently ranks 13th among global exporters of halal products, and has allocated a budget of THB8 billion devoted to improving manufacturing capability, speeding up certification, research and development for new products and enhancing international marketing, according to a report published by the Bangkok Post.

The global market for halal products is currently valued at US$2.3 trillion and is predicted to grow at an impressive rate, reaching US$6.4 trillion by 2018. In 2013, Thailand exported US$5.1 billion-worth of halal products to the Organisation of Islamic Cooperation and a total of 3,600 Thai companies now hold halal certification, covering 120,000 individual products.

“We have to expand our exports by 10 percent a year to be among the top five halal exporters,” said Industry Minister Atchaka Sibunruang. “We will continue to develop five provinces in the far south as the key halal production base, raw material source, and product development and distribution.”

Thailand’s major export markets include Dubai, Indonesia and some parts of China and the US.